I am not sure how many years we have been doing Relay now.
We started in New Jersey the year after Dad was diagnosed and recovered from the Lymphoma Cancer. I still have that shirt.
Since my parents moved to AZ in 2008 or 2009, we resumed attending a Relay event, choosing the one in our local town - Chandler.
This year our East Valley Relay event became a virtual one, for the first time ever.
Within the Relay event, The Luminaria Lap is among the most meaningful.
The white luminaria bags that surround the track are lit and ignited with candles inside, causing them to glow.
The Luminaria Lap is where we honor those still fighting cancer and remember those no longer with us.
In honor of our virtual Luminaria cerememony this year,
What does each letter of Luminaria mean to me?
L is for Light or Luminarias.
We light up the Luminarias to honor and remember our loved ones.
U is for United.
United, we can win this fight against cancer.
M is for More Birthdays.
More celebrating, More fighting back, More remembering.
More life when we no longer have to hear "you have cancer" or "your Dad/Mom or loved one has cancer"
I is for In It - We are in this fight together.
We support our loved ones any way we can - taking them to doctors appointments, shopping for them or doing other errands, sitting with them at treatment, and once they are gone, carrying on their legacy and living as they would want us to do.
N is for Never lose Hope.
Mitch Albom, one of my favorite authors wrote:
"Hope, no matter how buried, wants to find the light of day and rises from within us until it does."
My Father, also, never lost hope.
Many or all of you know, how we loved to talk to help others.
He ended many of his speeches with "I make hope happen" and he absolutely did.
A is for Alan
My Dad is the reason we started Relaying, and we reason we carry on his legacy.
Luckily, he is as a structured and organized as I am. I found all of his speeches on his computer. I'm the apple and he's the tree.
I found this among what he wrote:
"As a cancer survivor I speak publicly about my
experience with cancer, to groups and organizations to raise awareness and
further the mission of the American Cancer Society to save lives,
celebrate lives and lead the world in the fight against cancer"
R is for Remember.
The Relay slogans tend to change each year
My favorite of these has been.. "Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back"
We need to epitomize these - Celebrate when we can, Remember the good times, and those who aren't here, and Fight back to aid the ones still fighting.
I is for Insightful.
As stated above, the Luminaria ceremony is among the most meaningful and insightful.
It is the most somber part of the night.
The lights are dimmed, so that the glowing luminarias provide all the light onto the field.
Now that I think about that, its very fitting..Our loved ones are the lights of our lives, and they light up our lives, on this special night and on many others.
A is for Advances.
With the medical advances being made,
Hopefully one day we will, as Dad used to say, eradicate cancer from our vocabulary.
S is for Sheri.
Sheri is my cousin.
As we say in our family, We are #TeamSheriSTRONG.
We love you and are with you, Sheri. <3
The Luminaria ceremony is all these things to me.
What does it mean to you?
